I had pretty much written off San Antonio as just another corporatized city. The first saving grace was Howl At The Moon, a dueling piano bar. But then again it’s a franchise — typical San Antonio. The second saving grace, and the most unique thing about San Antonio (if not the entire US of A) is Barney Smith’s Toilet Seat Art Museum! Yes, you heard me right… and Barney has a story to go along with each and every one of these commode covers!
Kinda underwhelmed SA. You’ve pretty much managed to completely pave over your entire history with corporate logos and tourist traps. Way to sell out. I guess in a sense though that IS your history… missionaries coming through and paving over the Native American lands with churches and farm land. All praise the glorious Coca Cola™!
Austin is sort of like the bread of a Texas club sandwich in that I was here once before San Antonio and then once again after, with a little dollop of San Diego in between for some Halloween festivities. A special shot-out to my good friend Shannon (and her family) who really showed us the true meaning of southern hospitality!
Halfway between Eastern Texas and Austin is a quaint little town called Fredericksburg, TX. It’s like one of those little towns you see in movies where everyone knows each other. A few miles outside of town is a hiking spot called Enchanted Rock. I should have known that I was going to be under-enchanted when I saw toddlers on the hike. I would like to propose that they rename it to Mediocre Mound. I’ll tell ya what WAS enchanting though… just randomly stumbling across the Benini Studio and Sculpture ranch! The mechanical bull at the entrance gate was the pièce de résistance.
Midway through my 6-hour drive from Carlsbad Caverns into the heart of Texas, I pulled off on the side of the road as dusk settled in and climbed onto the roof of the RV to watch the sun set and listen to the crickets chirp.
